Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery is a 1997 American comedy film that is the first film of the Austin Powers series. It was directed by Jay Roach and written by Mike Myers who also stars in the title role. Myers also plays Dr. Evil, Austin Powers' arch-enemy. The film co-stars Elizabeth Hurley as Vanessa Kensington, Robert Wagner as Number Two, Seth Green as Scott Evil, and Michael York as Basil Exposition. There are cameos by Will Ferrell, Carrie Fisher, Tom Arnold, Rob Lowe, Christian Slater, Neil Mullarkey, and Burt Bacharach, and an uncredited cameo by MADtv star Michael McDonald, among many others.
The film is a parody of the early James Bond films (particularly those starring Sean Connery) as well as other 1960s spy films.
The film, which cost $16.5 million, opened on May 2, 1997, to positive critical reviews. It made a modest impact at the box office, grossing US$53 million in its North American release and about US$68 million worldwide. The film later became a hit and cult classic on the home video market and cable television, spawning two more commercially successful sequels.
Plot
In 1967, British gentleman spy Austin Powers attempts to assassinate his nemesis, Dr. Evil, in his own nightclub. Dr. Evil escapes by launching himself in space rocket disguised as a Bob's Big Boy statue, and cryogenically freezing himself. Powers volunteers to be put into cryostasis to be revived when Dr. Evil returns.
Thirty years later, in 1997, Dr. Evil returns with new plans for world domination, discovering his henchman Number 2 has continued Evil's empire into a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Though already wealthy, Dr. Evil proposes several plans to threaten the world for more money, but finds each of them have happened naturally during his absence; he ultimately falls back on his usual plan—"hijack some nuclear weapons and hold the world hostage". When Dr. Evil suggests a ransom of $1 million, his henchmen point out the inflation in the last thirty years, and instead seeks one hundred billion dollars. Later, Dr. Evil also discovers that Frau Farbissina has used a sample of Evil's semen to artificially create his son, Scott Evil, now a Generation X teenager. Scott is resentful of his father, despite Dr. Evil's attempts to get closer to him.
Having learned of Dr. Evil's return, the British Ministry of Defense unfreezes Powers, acclimating him to the year 1997 with the help of agent Vanessa Kensington, the daughter of his sidekick in the 1960s, Mrs. Kensington. Powers quickly finds his free love credo of the 1960's to be out of touch with the 1990's, and is unable to turn Vanessa onto his charms. The two pose as a married couple in a Las Vegas hotel. Powers meets Number Two's "Italian confidential private secretary", Alotta Fagina, and breaks into her penthouse suite. There, he discovers plans for Dr. Evil's "Project Vulcan", which aims to drill a nuclear warhead into the Earth's molten core and trigger volcanic eruptions worldwide. Dr. Evil, learning that Powers is back and on his trail, creates a series of fembots that will lure Powers to lower his defenses with their charm before killing him.
Discovering that Virtucon offers tourist tours of its facilities, Powers and Kensington infiltrate Dr. Evil's headquarters but are captured by his henchmen, Random Task. After Dr. Evil makes his demands to the world, and revealing that even after receiving the money, he will still proceed with Project Vulcan, he places Powers and Kensington in a death trap that they easily escape from. Powers instructs Kensington to go for help, while he struggles to escape from the fembots, eventually able to overcome their lure and defeating them. As Kensington leads a raid of the lair with British forces, Powers finds the doomsday device and deactivates it at the last moment. Austin later finds Dr. Evil in the main chamber, as he forces him to surrender, Dr. Evil utters the phrase "We're not so different you and I" Kensington is captured by Dr. Evil and Fagina, holding her hostage. As they standoff, Number Two appears, and offers to make a deal with Powers after having his success in Virtucon's conventional business disrupted by Dr. Evil's plans for world domination. Dr. Evil apparently kills Number Two and makes his escape back to his space rocket, setting off the base's self-destruct system. Powers and Kensington escape in time in Powers' "shaguar" as the lair is destroyed in a nuclear explosion.
Powers and Kensington are later married, but during their honeymoon Powers is attacked by Random Task. Defeated in conventional combat, Powers subdues the assassin through the use of a "Swedish-made penis enlarger pump" that was believed to be his, allowing Kensington to knock him out with a glass bottle to the head. In a romantic moment, the couple adjourn to their balcony to observe the stars. Noticing a rather bright star, Powers pulls out a telescope to discover that it is in fact Dr. Evil's cryogenic chamber in which Dr. Evil vows to "get" Austin Powers.
Cast
See also: Characters of Austin Powers
- Mike Myers as:
- Austin Powers. Austin Powers' flamboyant fashion sense shows strong similarities to the TV character Jason King, while his copious chest hair is a homage to the Sean Connery-acted version of James Bond and his glasses are owed mainly to Harry Palmer and partly to Peter Sellers' 'Evelyn Bond' character in the 1967 Bond spoof Casino Royale . His main outfit also resembles one worn by George Lazenby in the 1969 James Bond Film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service . The fact that he is woken up after years of being frozen to fight his enemy again is a parody of the premise of Adam Adamant Lives! . The idea of Austin Powers being a photographer chased by beautiful women is a reference to David Hemmings' character in the film Blowup .
- Dr. Evil, a spoof of James Bond's nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld. His famous pinkie-on-mouth gesture is based on the doctor from The Twilight Zone ' s Number 12 Looks Just Like You.
Production
Inspiration
Mike Myers has stated that he was inspired to create the character after hearing the song "The Look of Love" on the radio, which was the theme song of Ursula Andress's character Vesper Lynd in the 1967 version of Casino Royale , and thus the film has many of the late 60s psychedelic pop culture stylings of that earlier film. Not only Casino Royale, but elements from all the early James Bond movies are used for spoof or inspiration.
- Dr. No (1962) - Shower sequence during the unfreeze sequence, Austin's and Vanessa's change of clothing and dinner with Dr Evil, Dr Evil's outfit and general surroundings during the climax
- From Russia With Love (1963) - The Irish assassin being modelled on both Red Grant and the leprechaun character from the Lucky Charms commericals, the toilet fight modelled on the train fight, Frau Frabissina partly modelled on Rosa Klebb, Mustafa based on a character in Matt Helm's The Ambushers .
- Goldfinger (1964) - The character Random Task modelled on Oddjob, the dialogue "do you expect them to pay? - No, I expect them to die" based on "Do you expect me to talk? - No, I expect you to die", Random Task/Odd Job chopping off the head of a statue, final fight between Austin and Random Task against a wall modelled on fight between Bond and Odd Job against a wall inside Fort Knox.
- Thunderball (1965) - Dr Evil's head quarters where he kills people around the table, the plot about stealing nuclear arms and holding the world ransom, conversation about a swimming pool with sharks, Austin playing Black Jack with No 2.
- Casino Royale (1966) - The song "The look of love", the rotating bed, Austin Powers' glasses, psychadelic set during Dr Evil's initial 1967 escape, No 2 cheating at cards by having special glasses modelled on similar sequence with Orson Welles.
- You Only Live Twice (1967) - The lines "this organization does not tolerate failure" and "in Japan men come first", the scenes with the Jaguar and the video communication with Basil Exposition at the very beginning is modelled on similar sequences with Bond, Aki and Tiger Tanaka, external shots of the Virtucon enterprise modelled on external shots of the Osaka enterprise, interior of Alotta's apartment, bath tub sequence in Alotta's apartment, Austin's poetry similar to Tiger Tanaka's reading of poetry (actually written by Bond in the novel), Mr. Bigglesworth (Dr. Evil's cat) being a parody of Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld's white Persian, although it becomes hairless due to the cryostasis.
- On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) - The look and behaviour of Austin Powers modelled on Lazenby's Bond, Frau Fabissima partly modelled on Irma Bunt, Dr Evil's killing at the Pussycat Club in line with how Blofeld did his own killing in OHMSS.
- Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Nevada and Las Vegas locations, Austin climbing through the window into Alotta Fagina's apartment modelled on how Bond enters Blofeld's apartment, double entendres by Austin and Vanessa modelled after those made by the two homosexual hitmen (i.e. "moving", "heartwarming" in the original film), No 2 using a model of the US for explaining the enterprise, final attack on Austin at the hotel modelled on similar final sequence on the Queen Elisabeth.
Other inspirations for the character and the film include Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine , the BBC series Adam Adamant Lives! , in which an Edwardian hero is frozen by his arch-enemy The Face and is revived in 19
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